Gratitude... goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.
-Henri J. M. Nouwen

Friday, May 30, 2008

Some people come into our lives . . .

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for while, leave footprints in our hearts, and we are never the same."

Delaney graduated from Kindergarten on Wednesday morning. This is a picture of her with her dear teacher, Mrs. Vaudrin. When I think of all the changes and uncertainty my brave girl went through this past year I immediately think of this amazing woman. Laurie stepped in as a surrogate mother to Delaney while she was living here, and I was in the hospital. Although she was dealing with so many trials of her own, including aging parents and her own husband's health problems, she always took the extra time to champion Delaney, to comfort her when she was lonely or afraid and love her. I know Delaney will never forget her.

I truly believe the first years of education are the most critical. They provide the foundation for how our children feel about learning and how they perceive themselves academically and socially. Delaney has been so blessed to not only have two amazing years at White Flint Montessori, molding her into a kind friend, a confident leader and diligent learner, but now this year at Lake Center reinforcing those qualities with an even greater message of God's love.

At the graduation each child was not only recognized for academic achievements but given a certificate for a character trait they specifically exemplify. I loved this focus on not just what they are learning but who they are becoming as people. Delaney's character trait was "cheerfulness." My mom and I joke often about how Delaney is like a little bird, chirping from the first moment she wakes in the morning. I felt so proud because, as much as I worry about how the many changes of our life may have affected her, I see how happy she is and no mother could really ask for more!

Thank you for Mrs. Vaudrin and her lasting ministry to mine and other's children. I am so grateful for my dear daughter, so full of joy and the love of life. Please protect her tender heart as she grows.

My girls

Books I'm reading or reading again and again

Quotes that inspire me

“God is not a belief to which you give your assent. God becomes a reality whom you know intimately, meet everyday, one whose strength becomes your strength, whose love, your love. Live this life of the presence of God long enough and when someone asks you, “Do you believe there is a God?” you may find yourself answering, “No, I do not believe there is a God. I know there is a God.” ~Ernest Boyer, Jr.

"there is no use trying," said alice... ..."one can't believe impossible things." "i dare say you haven't had much practice," said the queen. "when I was your age, i always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes i've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

"PEACE. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart." Unknown

Lines from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road: “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved. The ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”